The Shepherd Alone on the Hill is a Genius Wizard-Chapter 155: Osel’s Treatment (1)

’Never come back.’

When Solif read the hidden message in his father Godis’s letter, silence fell over the lodging.

Afterward, the three of them tried various ways to read the letter to see if there were any other hidden messages, but they couldn’t find anything else.

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"What does it mean?"

"Maybe Mr. Godis also noticed something suspicious, so he wrote that. Or..."

Turan swallowed the thought that came to his mind: maybe it was a double trap designed to evoke Solif’s sympathy for his father and lure him into making contact.

"Huh."

Perhaps troubled by this unexpected revelation, Solif frowned deeply, closed his eyes, and mumbled something.

Meisa asked him, "Are you going to meet him?"

"I don’t know. If my father truly left that message out of concern for me, it would be proper to talk with him. But honestly, I’ve always thought that all the affection my parents showed while raising me was fake."

If Baraha had truly raised Solif to be a vessel for a god, this would be the natural conclusion.

After all, the various questionable education methods wouldn’t have been applied to him without his parents’ consent.

"If my parents truly loved me, and my father is chasing me because my mother is being held hostage—damn, would they go that far? It seems like they would, though..."

Since his incoherent mumbling revealed his complicated feelings, Turan and Meisa remained quiet and just listened to his complaints.

However, not long after, they realized that these worries were meaningless when a servant arrived to inform them that Godis had left Rida’s mansion.

"He left?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"Did he leave on his own, or did Lady Rida send him away?"

"A lowly person like me wouldn’t know such things..."

Well, what would servants know anyway?

When Turan immediately went to Rida, he learned that Godis had left of his own accord.

"I suppose he left because he thought you might be a lead, but found nothing worthwhile? He couldn’t possibly use force to intimidate anyone here."

Rida, who had been smiling as she spoke, suddenly stiffened her expression.

"But be careful outside. If they target you outside of Labitas’s territory, there’s nothing I can do for you. As a member of a great house, I must prioritize my family, just as I rely on their power."

It meant that while she would naturally fulfill a noble’s duty to take care of Turan as a guest, she couldn’t clash with another great house without justification for the sake of a young friend.

When Turan returned to their lodgings and shared this information, Solif nodded with an expression that mixed both frustration and relief.

"So that’s how it is..."

"In the end, we don’t know what the letter’s intention was."

At Meisa’s words, Turan pulled out a few long silver hairs from his pocket.

He had secretly collected them after Godis left the reception room.

"With these, we can track him down whenever we want to ask him something."

With Turan’s current magical power, using someone’s hair as a medium for tracking magic, he could detect someone within a range of thousands of kilometers.

If he pushed himself a little, he could track Godis’s whereabouts even after he returned to the Baraha main house.

At Turan’s words, Solif nodded with a glum expression.

"Hmm, let’s think about that later... after Meisa recovers. I’m not sure what to do right now."

==

For the next few days, Turan’s group spent a relatively comfortable time healing their bodies and minds at the Labitas mansion.

Of course, Meisa and Solif found this time quite uncomfortable; one couldn’t move her legs and needed assistance for everything, while the other had to maintain his disguise as a servant.

Fortunately, on the seventh day, they received word that the head of the Labitas family had invited them.

Turan’s group headed to the central palace in the capital with Rida.

"Come to think of it, Turan, I notice you always carry Miss Misha yourself rather than entrusting her to a servant?"

During their journey, Rida watched Turan carrying Meisa and asked with a sly smile.

"Oh, yes. It’s more comfortable this way."

While Meisa and Solif weren’t awkward or uncomfortable with each other, they did have a "friend of a friend" kind of relationship centered around Turan.

That’s why Turan personally carried Meisa when they needed to move, which seemed to amuse Rida.

"A man who is too jealous lacks charm."

"I’ll keep that in mind."

Responding naturally to Rida’s joke, they entered a massive room in the innermost part of the palace. Explore stories at novelbuddy

The first things that caught their eye were the taxidermied specimens of several enormous magical beasts and delicate handicraft decorations.

And visible only to Turan’s eyes—the flow of magical power surrounding the entire wall.

’Some kind of magic seems to be cast here...’

Perhaps because of this magic cast throughout the head family’s quarters, Turan couldn’t detect the magical power of Labitas family head Osel until they entered.

In the corner, a huge tiger and lion were each crouching, and judging by their middle-noble-class magical power, they appeared to be the family head’s pets.

The fact that no one else was staying in the family head’s residence was probably because Turan’s request to keep the healing request confidential had been conveyed through Rida.

From the innermost part of the room, behind a veil, came the voice of a young boy.

"I’ve heard the gist of it. You want my power?"

Osel calmly asked the question, pretending not to know Turan’s group despite having met them before.

Since there was no need to reveal his abilities by acknowledging him, Turan respectfully bowed his head and played along.

"Yes, Family Head. I wish to heal my companion, Misha’s wounds."

"You understand what it means for the head of a great family to personally use their power."

Though he tried to speak with gravitas, his voice was that of a boy who had just passed puberty, which almost made Turan laugh.

Of course, since offending Osel here would be disastrous, Turan gritted his teeth.

"I am prepared to repay Your Excellency’s grace. I will offer gold, silver, and the right to use my power once."

"The right to use your power."

Contracts where nobles sold their labor to others were actually quite common.

Typically, wandering nobles with no property would propose such trade terms to wealthy territorial nobles.

"However, I have a few conditions."

"Conditions?"

"It must not harm innocent people, it must be a task with clear goals and deadlines, and it must not be so difficult that it’s impossible with my abilities."

Hearing Turan’s words, Osel made a humming sound, stroking his chin that wouldn’t even have grown a beard yet, then spoke.

"As it happens, I have something that fits those conditions perfectly."

"What is it?"

"Marshland reclamation."

Reclamation referred to filling in water-covered areas to create land.

It seemed like a naturally necessary task for Labitas territory, which was mostly wetlands.

"Where and how much needs to be done?"

"The Koloa region in southern Siraf Wetlands. The area that needs to be developed is roughly one hundred kilometers in each direction."

Given that he immediately provided the size, it seemed Osel had prepared the compensation in advance after hearing Turan’s conditions from Rida.

"It seems to be a project difficult to undertake with just family power."

"The range is wide and the terrain is problematic, but above all, there are several troublesome magical beasts living there. It might take decades if done alone."

Since the magical power of strong beasts was coveted even by nobles of great houses, these "troublesome" creatures probably weren’t very powerful but had special abilities that made them difficult to hunt.

The magical beasts of Siraf Wetlands were notorious for being hard to catch despite offering little reward.

"Must I do it alone, without any support from Labitas?"

"You’re free to employ people, but you’ll have to bear the costs yourself."

After pondering briefly, Turan nodded.

His calculation was that while ordinary nobles might need at least ten years of effort as Osel said, with the power of three quasi-family head level nobles, it wouldn’t take that long.

Even with the worst luck, it should only take a few months.

"Very well."

"I’m glad we’ve concluded matters easily."

Just when it seemed the conversation was over, for some reason, Osel stared blankly at Turan without saying anything for a while, and only spoke after nearly a minute had passed.

"What? If we’re done talking, you may leave."

"When will the healing take place?"

"Naturally, after you’ve completed your task."

At Osel’s words, Turan shook his head.

"I need Misha’s help for the marshland reclamation. Please heal her first."

"What should I trust from a wandering noble without a family? If you just receive the treatment and run away, I’d be expending my power with no compensation."

Osel’s cold response instantly chilled the atmosphere that had been amicable until just moments ago.